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Things are starting to wind down in the world of Maritime Motorsports now but by no means does it mean that the season is over.
Scotia Speedworld has now closed its doors after another successful season and the Carquest Pro Stock Tour has wrapped up another 11 race season, crowning Wayne Smith as their champion for a second time. This puts Smith in very elite company, joining Greg Sewart as five time champions at this level. Smith had won 3 MASCAR titles to go with his 2 Pro Stock wins while Sewart had racked up 5 titles on the highly competitive MASCAR tour.
This weekend, Riverside Speedway wraps up another successful season when the NASCAR Canadian Tire Tour invades the "high banks".In reality, these cars are not as fast as our own Pro Stocks, but they bring professionalism and organization with them and put on an exciting show. Andrew Ranger, last year's champion, will be there again and he brings a lot of experience gained in a short time with him. Ranger has driven a few NASCAR Nationwide races this year and is being touted as getting a full time Nationwide ride next year.
Adding a Maritime flair to the event is Donald Chisholm, the Maritime Pro Stock driver, who has built a brand new car to compete in this race. Rumour has it that Chisholm may seek success on the NASCAR circuit full time next year. In last year's event, Chisholm was more than holding his own until mechanical failure forced him out of the race.
Congratulations go out to Tim Wile, owner of Centre for Speed, this week. Wile had booked the New England Modifieds to perform on Sunday and a good show was anticipated. When Wile learned that only 4 or 5 of the 15 car tour intended to race up here in Canada, Wile promptly cancelled the show. Too often these shows book dates in the Maritimes, only to show up with a depleted line up. Wile stood up and said "no" and I applaud him for that. Last year, the PASS Tour did the same thing in Riverside, so this year the PASS tour was not on the Riverside schedule. Promoter John Chisholm also said "no" and he should be applauded as well. We have lots of great racing right here and it's time we realized that.
While I'm handing out cuedos, congratulations are in order for the executive and management of the Pro Stock tour. They put on an exciting season and are a shoo-in to be named again as the top short track Tour in North America.
Speedway 660 wraps up their 2008 season this Saturday afternoon with their annual "Fan Appreciation" day. All the points battles will be decided and champions crowned. None of the 3 divisions has a clear winner yet so the action on the track should be hot and heavy.
Several of the other tracks are wrapping up this weekend as well. Notably, River Glade will try for a third time this Sunday to run their Demolition event before next week's Outlaw challenge which will bring their season to a close.
The one remaining "Super Event" left after this weekend is the Atlantic Championships, which will be held at Centre for Speed on the Thankgiving long weekend. Cars from all the tracks converge on the Shediac facility for this one and is a fitting close to the season. The racing is great and the drivers leave it all on the track.
Local drivers, Sandy Livingston, Corey Collins and Ryan MacIntosh have all had exciting seasons and congratulations are extended to all of them for a job well done. None won titles but all were competitive and represented this area well.
Well, that's a wrap for this week, I hope to see you at the track this weekend.
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